


the best worst chocolate in the world

by fatcr0w



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Jealousy, M/M, Not Beta Read, Pre-Canon, Self-Esteem Issues, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, just the tiniest bit of angst, two idiots one braincell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:35:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22708603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatcr0w/pseuds/fatcr0w
Summary: Leon receives a literal mountain worth of valentines gifts every year, being the champion and all. But this year there's no lopsided package from his favorite not-so-secret admirer. What's a champion gonna do?T for British swearing
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Kibana | Raihan
Comments: 32
Kudos: 275





	1. where is it?!

**Author's Note:**

> I write this exact plot for literally every fandom i'm in and i'm not sick of it yet so LETS GOOOooo

"Where is it where is it!"

Leon was dwarfed by the piles of gifts that covered his office floor. The neat piles his staff had carefully organized this morning were gone, replaced with a scene of wreckage that looked like Tornadus came to visit. 

"Sir?" one of the league staffers tried to hide his look of concern behind the stack of chocolates in his arms, "What... uh... are you looking for?" 

Leon popped up from the center of the explosion, his usually perfect hair in disarray. He didn't even pause to greet the staffer as he ran to take the chocolates from his grasp, flipping through the beautiful and expensive boxes with an ever-worsening frown on his face. 

"It's not here," Leon grabbed the staffer's shoulders, his grip surprisingly tight." Tell me, did they process anything from a 'Kibana' down in receiving?" 

Poor Jerome was startled out of his wits. The champion was generally a jovial, happy-go-lucky kind of entity. Today, however, he was completely aware of exactly how tall and broad Leon really was. If he wanted, he could snap him like a twig, no pokemon required. There was a dangerous glint of desperation in his eye that Jerome hadn't ever seen before. The staffer wasn't sure what bug pokemon had bitten the champion on the butt, but did it have to happen on Valentine's day? 

"N-No sir this is the last of the g-gifts for you, Sir," Jerome's teeth chattered in fear. 

Realizing his faux pas, Leon released his grip on Jerome's shoulders, his hands falling slack at his side.

"Oh... I see...Thanks for your hard work," Leon mumbled sadly.

Now he looked more like a tiny kicked Yamper than a towering demon, going to lick his wounds in the piles of designer clothes and luxury chocolates.

"Sir? I can look again if you'd like," he offered helpfully. His job was centered around maintaining the champion's happiness after all. And this was honestly quite a pitiful look. 

"No...It's alright. Not everyone stays a fan forever..." 

Leon didn't say anything more, going to splay out on his couch and indulge in melancholy for a few moments more. Valentines was his favorite holiday, if only because he received a heartfelt gift from his favorite admirer every year for the last ten years. Even when his Valentines gift haul was small, there would always be a poorly wrapped box with a poorly decorated card and very ambitious but usually inedible chocolates.   
  
And out of the entire pile it was the only _real_ valentine, sent by none other than Raihan. It was supposed to be some big secret. Raihan never acknowledged the holiday outside of a professional capacity. After taking over Hammerlocke he always sent out obligatory gifts. Cookies, candies, and chocolates in delicate and impeccable packages from one of the upscale Hammerlocke bakeries or candy stores. Leon had received that one through Rose and Oleana, who had received identical favors. It was a nice gesture, but no more than that. 

The REAL valentine was always homemade, and poorly. In the first few years they had the look of any craft project a kid could do. Back then he'd still received valentines from his training compatriots, and the gift from "Kibana" looked as normal as any other. As they aged and started to feel the real SPIRIT of Valentine's day, the tacky hodge-podge gifts trickled to a stop. Eventually, even Sonia found someone to really send Valentines to, and the only handmade gifts in Leon's pile of sponsor-stamped heart chocolate were from Kibana. 

For all but the last couple of years, Leon had no clue who this mysterious Kibana was. Raihan's poker face was impeccable, even as a child. He'd even spent hours with Leon in their teens running around trying to figure out who this mystery "Kibana" was, the tosser. It wasn't until Sonia accidentally let slip that Raihan had been to Postwick to ask his mum about chocolates that he put two and two together. 

~~~~   
"Leon! Pleaaaase don't tell him I let this slip. He'll be so mad!" Sonia took on a very rare pleading look. 

"Why would he be mad?" Leon's face was still beet red after computing the implications of Raihan going out of his way to go learn chocolate-making from his mum.

"He's like, super embarrassed about it. He didn't even want me to see him in Postwick, said it was dumb n' you wouldn't respect him as a gym leader if you knew." 

"That's rubbish!" 

"I know! I tried tellin' him that but you know he's half as stubborn as you, which is twice as stubborn as normal folk." 

"That's uncalled for!" Leon blustered 

"Hah! Tell me that when you actually ask him out proper!"  
~~~~

Yet despite his embarrassment, Raihan still sent the chocolates every year like clockwork, wrapped in whatever tacky Charmander gift wrap they had this year, topped with a heartfelt card about how cool he was in battle. 

But why no card this year? What had gone wrong? Had Raihan finally grown out of his childhood admiration and discovered a new crush? Was someone else getting his awful burnt chocolates? Would they even appreciate the sand that inevitably made its way into the mix? 

Leon didn't even realize he was tearing up until Charlize worked her way out of her Pokeball to snuff at him in concern. Leon reached up to pat her muzzle between the eyebrows, letting her instinctive purr soothe him. 

"Guess you'll have to be my Valentine this year, huh Charl?" 

Charlize reared up her orange head, scandalized. She huffed and turned away from him, crossing her arms like an offended lady, her sparking tail snapping in irritation. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I know your heart truly belongs to Bomba," Leon chuckled, remembering how well she got on with Raihan's Turtonator, "But are you going to really leave me out cold here?" 

Charlize huffed, giving him a withering look that he'd come to know as: 

_This is all your own fault, stupid._


	2. kiss the cook

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI I use my headcanon timeline where they're 25 at end of game because of a 5 year gap where Raihan was out of the region.

"I mean, you could just pip on down to Hammerlocke and ask him you know," Sonia continued applying her eyelashes in the mirror just off Rotom's screen, completely unimpressed with the puddle of champion sprawled face down on his couch. Charlize and the rest of his pokemon were sprawled about in the living room, stuffed after divvying up the Charizard-sized gourmet pokepuff assortment his fan club had provided this year.

Leon turned his pitiful face to the screen, "But... I'm not supposed to know. Didn't you say that?!"

Sonia rolled her eyes at Leon's pitiful look. He hadn't been crying, per se, but his eyes were red and his nose was snotty anyhow. He buried his face back in the comfort of his couch pillow.

"I just think it's rather silly, two big men dancing around their feelings like grade school boys," there was a rattling as Sonia rifled through her lipsticks.

"Sonia it's complicated. He's my rival and-"

"It's not. Really, "Sonia finally looked up, fixing him with an unimpressed stare that was usually pointed at him across the Hulbury gym.

_They're rubbing off on each other, Leon thought, frozen in place._

"It's not complicated. He's sent you ten years' worth of hand made chocolate. You keep his dodgy letters and the wrappers in a little case in the back of your closet."

"Hey! how did you-"

"Hop found you reading through it like a secret shrine! You're such a loon! It's clear as day to everyone except you two! I know they say love is blind but this is ridiculous!"

"But-"

"No buts!" Sonia was rising out of her chair, checking her hair and the contours of her dress in the mirror once more, "I can't say what he's thinking about all this but I'm not going to be late to my date with the loveliest girl in Galar because you're too chicken to send him a note back like he's been hoping all this time. You two could be full frontal snogging right now if you got off your bum."

At that, she gave Leon one fina stink eye before clicking off her phone, leaving the champion dumbstruck.

"Sn...Snogging?"

There was much to think about.

Luckily, Leon didn't often waste his time thinking. It's what made him such a great pokemon trainer, and generally what gave him an edge over Raihan's hyper analysis. The champion was up and moving so quickly that Charlize let out a startled squeal.

His slothful pokemon had all barely opened their eyes when Leon lifted up his Pokeball sling, "Come on! We're going to Hammerlocke!"

~~~~~~

In Hammerlocke, Raihan stumbled into his castle chambers and made it almost entirely onto the couch. He managed to get his torso onto it before slumping over in exhaustion, his legs sprawled across the floor. Valentines was just a holiday for most: candy, cards, a date, maybe some fun in the sheets. For Raihan however, there was a particular headache associated with it.

Applin management.

Every year he'd spend all of Valentine's week running around Galar like a startled Pidgey taking on Applin poachers and breeding mills trying to capitalize on the Galarian legend. Not to mention the sheer number of legally raised and unfortunately rejected Applin that found themselves released into wild areas wholly unsuitable for them.

It made sense for him to be the one to do it. His natural dragon-type magnetism made the scared, depressed, and rejected Applins trust him implicitly. Despite his very public losses, he was still the second strongest trainer in the region. The champion was a public figure and couldn't risk his image on petty criminals, so it was up to Hammerlocke gym to assist.

This year had been busier than usual. Early in the week there had been a break-in at Milo's orchard to steal an appletun, so he and his trainees had temporarily sheltered the pokemon in Hammerlocke until the damaged fencing and security systems could be repaired. The place was now teeming with apple-scented dragons scrounging around every surface and getting into trouble with the newest litter of goomy Missy Drip had produced.

After that, he spent two days scouting through the Isle of Armor with local police on a tip of illegal Applin smuggling. He'd been forced to battle his way through what felt like half the island! When his flying taxi finally landed back in Hammerlocke he'd hoped for a moment's respite only to get wrapped up in rescuing a wild Applin from a storm drain the moment he stepped on solid ground.

Raihan let out a groan into the couch cushions. He was travel-worn, his feet hurt, his back was sore, and he felt the buzzy aura of an incoming migraine. He wanted to call it a day, but there was still so much to be done. He checked his watch. If he skipped showering he could get an extra fifteen minutes out of a one hour nap before he needed to round up his trainees to go escort the dozens of fan-gifted Applins that arrived for Leon every year before they ravaged Rose Tower.

"Perhaps it's lucky that Milo's orchard is in repair this year... I only have to bring them one stop on the line," Raihan murmured. An Applin, one of the dozens crawling about his rooms at the moment, chittered happily and crawled atop his head. The dragon gym leader couldn't be bothered to move it as his eyes began to droop in sleep.

As he set his alarm and finally relaxed into the cushions, he couldn't help but feel like he'd forgotten something.

* * *

  
Raihan had just started to drool onto the leather when he was startled awake by a thud powerful enough to shake his ancient chandeliers. The Applin on his head startled and rolled into his hood to cower in fear at the sudden noise.

The dragon trainer hadn't managed to open his eyes but years of training had him instinctively throw out the Pokeball for his Duraludon, Noodle. The steel dragon had barely solidified from its ball when his front door burst open, startling Raihan even more awake.

"What in Arceus' golden glow?"

Instead of a team of Applin poachers or some cranky wild Pokemon, a familiar red-caped silhouette blocked the light from his hallway. Raihan blinked a few more times, clearing his eyes.

"Leon?!"

The champion's already shining gold eyes were bright with determination. He was huffing and puffing with excitement as he stomped into Raihan's apartment. Noodle shifted in confusion, the look on Leon's face said 'battle' but Charlize was in her pokeball instead of out for the challenge. What was going on?

Leon patted Noodle on his slightly shorter head." I'm not here to battle, Noo. I didn't get any chocolates from Kibana this year," Leon huffed, looking directly into Raihan's teal eyes, "Or should I say, I didn't get any chocolates from Raihan, whose name translates to Kibana in Alolan."

The taller trainer blanched. That's what he'd forgotten! He'd stayed up the night after helping Milo to work through batches of chocolates trying to get a semi-presentable outcome for once. He'd ruined three beyond repair and was having some luck with the fourth until he was surprised by his Rotom relaying the message from the Isle of Armor. The semi-burned chocolates were still in the mold from three days ago, dishes piled high in the sink.

Leon followed Raihan's guilty look to the mess in the kitchen. A Goomy was happily investigating the now-cold saucepan smeared with crispy chocolate ash. Sometime in the past day or so, one of the Applins had found the bright purple ribbon and wrapped it around its apple to parade around in. The kid's brand Charizard wrapping paper was torn up for nesting material. Raihan sighed, he really needed to clean the place up.

"I...Uh..." he fished for an excuse. His usually sharp mind was blank, too exhausted to lie his way out. The damning evidence stared at them from the kitchen island. His shoulders deflated even further, "I'm sorry. I forgot."

From his half-sprawled angle on the floor, Leon looked impossibly huge. He was taller than Duraludon on his own, and the champion aura seemed to fill the gaps in what had originally felt like a spacious room. He was used to having a birds-eye view of everyone and everything but now he just felt rather small, and rather stupid.

Of course he'd figure it out. It was a plan concocted by a grade-schooler.

Raihan pinched his nose. The migraine was on its way.

"When did you figure me out?"

"About seven, eight years ago, before you went to training school," Leon carefully omitted Sonia's hand in this.

"Must have had a proper laugh about it then, eh?" Raihan sighed, "Poor sod, sending crummy chocolates to his crush at thirteen, too scared to sign his own name. Coulda told me to call it off instead of me makin' a fool of meself and sending you biohazards in the post."

Leon was silent for a bit, but Raihan definitely saw the wheels in his mind turning as his mind worked through the implications. It was like a curtain was removed from his face, going from the intensity of a champion to the happy-go-lucky grin of a Yamper.

"You sent the chocolates because you had a crush on me?" Leon's grin was enormous. He trotted past Raihan into the kitchen.

Raihan sighed as he stood up,"Yea so I did."

Leon was poking around at the Charmander-face chocolate mold, "And the only reason I didn't get any this year is because you forgot?"

"Yea, the Applin situation this year is out of hand."

"So you still like me? You still have a big fat crush on me?" He wrestled with the hard plastic to knock the chocolates out with a definitive clank. They were rock hard.

"Yes! You bloody wanker, I'm absolutely daft for the man who keeps kicking my arse across the battlefield and doesn't think twice about me like some kind of twisted maso. Go on! Get your laughs in. Maybe it'll knock some sense--- What in Arceus! You'll get sick!"

Leon's cheeks were puffed out around his enormous grin as he shoved another chocolate in his mouth. Raihan could hear the audible crunching. There was a vaguely sick look on his face as he forced down the "treat". The goomy in the saucepan looked on in awe and respect.

"If you're daft then so am I," he decidedly crunched on another one, his face twisting as the candy seemed to fight back in his mouth,"Daft for looking forward to eating these shite chocolates every year just because I love the prick that cooks 'em."

All the blood that had left Raihan's face flushed back into a red hot blush, "L-Loves?"

"Yep!" Leon popped the last of the chocolates into his mouth and stomped back over to Raihan, golden eyes fixed on teal with unwavering love and determination. Before he could react, Leon had done some sort of maneuver that had Raihan in a terrible parody of a princess dip.

"WH-"

Leon surged forward to capture Raihan's mouth in a clumsy but very enthusiastic kiss. The dragon leader's over-analytical brain immediately short-circuited, leaving him only able to cling to Leon's shirt as they traded tongues and sighs. The chocolate in Leon's mouth tasted terribly salty and bitter, almost like licking a cast iron pot covered in ash. There were bits of sand and grit from Arceus knows where, and the sting of chocolate liqueur. They didn't break apart until Raihan slapped Leon's chest for air.

"Now what do you have to say to all that?" Leon muttered smugly. His lips were red, completely cleaned of the disastrous chocolates.

Raihan coughed a bit, choking up the sandaconda scale that had found its way into the mix. His face broke into the same happy Yamper smile plastered on Leon's face as he threw his arms around his rival-no, his boyfriend's neck.

"Can't believe you always ate those mate. That has be the worst chocolate in the world!"

(Or maybe the best. Who's counting anyhow?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Noodle had to witness this.


End file.
